Generally, an electric furnace refers to a furnace that heats and melts metal or alloy using electric energy. After scrap is charged into the furnace, current in an arc form is produced between an electrode and the scrap to heat and thereby melt the scrap.
Further, impurities in the scrap are molten during steelmaking work of the electric furnace, thus causing slag in the form of oxide to be formed on molten steel.
The slag floats on the surface of the molten steel, prevents the surface of the molten steel from being oxidized by air and serves to preserve the surface. On an interface between the slag and the molten steel, mass transfer and chemical reactions occur.